


Without Words

by irishavalon



Series: Nights on the Roof [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Tony Stark, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Other, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Takes place after Infinity Wars, Tony is a shameless fan of Disney movies, but before the film comes out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 04:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13628538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishavalon/pseuds/irishavalon
Summary: "Tony wants to say something. 'We’ll break this.' 'I’ll find a way to get your voice back.' 'Larynx will pay for this if it goes on much longer.' 'I miss your voice so much.'“This can’t be permanent,” he says instead, hating how unconvincing his voice sounds."After a villain steals Loki's voice, Tony finds a way for Loki to tell him their gender identity without words.





	Without Words

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a sequel to All Through the Night, but can be read as a standalone.

It starts with a textbook mission gone wrong. A couple of the Avengers plus Loki are called out to deal with a seemingly low-level villain. She calls herself Larynx, and apparently she steals people’s voices.

Tony calls her Ursula the entire time. Steve is about ready to throttle him the tenth time he says it, but Loki seems to find it hilarious. Maybe he’s just excited to be fighting someone again. It’s been about a month since Thanos, and after the Mad Titan himself, S.H.I.E.L.D has allowed the Avengers (and therefore Loki by proxy) some time off. Most superpowered humans, hero and villain alike, seem to be lying low, anyway, licking their wounds after the world was almost destroyed.

Larynx doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that the world almost ended, though; she doesn’t hold back when the Avengers arrive. The heroes seem to be winning, but barely. They’re out of practice with working together, and Loki’s presence adds another challenge to the mix. He’s helping (sort of; he mostly seems to be laughing), but only Tony and Thor really trust him, so he’s distracting the others, no matter that he’s on their side today. Steve and Wanda are fighting Larynx while always keeping an eye on Loki.

Tony understands their distrust; but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get on his nerves. The god fought _Thanos_ with them, is fighting this woman now. And Tony, who trusts no one, who told Fury all those years ago that he doesn’t play well with others, _trusts_ Loki, to the point that he’s actually dating the god. He thought that would count for something, but apparently the others find his judgement impaired when it comes to most things, his attraction to an Asgardian royal included.

And Loki has trouble with teamwork, too. He’s not used to working with others. He and Thor play off each other like the brothers they are, anticipating each other’s moves and covering each other’s blind spots. But Loki and the others aren’t experienced with combining their powers, and it’s creating little disasters and weaknesses throughout the battle. Wanda and Loki’s powers mix and explode, causing part of the building to their left to crumble, nowhere near the woman they’re supposed to be working together to subdue. Another time, Loki’s spell catches Steve’s shield and sends it spinning wildly off course. From his position, Tony can tell that it was an accident, and that Loki’s subsequent apology is genuine. But Steve yells in frustration anyway and runs off to retrieve the shield.

“Stark!” Loki yells, and Tony draws his attention back to the battle in time to see Loki block Larynx’s spell, which is aimed directly at him. He sags slightly in relief at the close call, and watches Loki exhale. His expression is impassive, but Tony sees his own worries easing.

And then there’s a flash of yellow light and Loki is knocked off his feet.

“Goddammit,” Tony says, and blasts Larynx twice in the chest before she can do anything more. Wanda restrains the villain with her magic, and then it’s over.

Tony lands on the cracked asphalt of the street beside Loki. He seems all right, is already starting to sit up. He rubs his head where he hit it, but otherwise looks unscathed.

“Are you all right?” Tony asks. Loki opens his mouth, then closes it and opens it again. His eyes widen, and he mouths what Tony clearly reads as _Oh, shit._

“Fuck,” Tony says. “She got you.” Loki nods. “We’ll make her take it off.” Loki shrugs.

“Brother, are you hurt?” Thor booms, stepping around the rubble and broken slabs of asphalt.

Loki rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“Ursula over there just stole Ariel’s voice. No contract or anything.” Tony says, watching Loki close his eyes and duck his head, a grin spreading over his face. Now Tony feels the panic bubbling up within him; he didn’t think Larynx could steal all sounds from a person, not just their voice. The bitch took Loki’s laugh, too.

Leaving Loki at the mercy of his brother, Tony turns and stalks over to where Wanda has Larynx. Steve stands a ways off, notifying S.H.I.E.L.D of the capture.

“You’re going to be taken in and questioned by S.H.I.E.L.D,” Tony tells her. She glares at him, but he ignores her. “Then you’ll be brought to a maximum security prison where you will rot. You cannot escape, you cannot bargain with us, and you have lost. So how about you take your little spell off my friend here.”

She tries to spit at his feet, but Wanda’s magic keeps the saliva from landing on the concrete. “Make me, Iron Man,” she says. The look on her face is venomous and unwavering. He takes a step toward her, but a small chunk of the torn apart street lands at his feet and bounces up to lightly hit the ankle of his suit. The clank makes him turn and look down.

“What the--?” He looks back in the direction it was thrown and sees that Loki is now standing, Thor beside him. Loki shakes his head at Tony, and Tony frowns back, not understanding.

“Don’t worry, Stark. Loki will find a way to break this witch’s spell. It will not take him much time. Do not bother with the sorceress.” Thor says.

Tony looks from Thor to Loki, who gives him a barely noticeable crooked smile. He lifts one hand, palm up, in what Tony thinks is a gesture of appeasement. He sends Larynx a final, scathing look and then lets the matter rest.

  
  


Neither Loki nor any of the others find a counterspell or cure that day, and Larynx is unwavering when Tony tries to appeal to her again. Tony suggests every Disney-style cure he can think of, to varying degrees of reactions from Loki and the others. The other Avengers roll their eyes or ignore every unhelpful reference that comes out of Tony’s mouth. Loki either glares at Tony or does his closed-eyes-head-drop silent laughter gesture. A month ago, Loki would have no idea what Tony is talking about, but Tony recently started distracting Loki during their trauma-induced sleepless nights by forcing him to watch every Disney animated film ever created. Tony even included his less favorite movies in order to give Loki a well-rounded Disney viewing experience.

When Tony suggests true love’s kiss, Loki rolls his eyes but surprises Tony by grabbing him by the collar and smashing his lips against Tony’s. Loki pulls away and mouths what looks suspiciously like _Idiot_ to experiment how well the attempt worked. “We could try to replicate the results,” Tony suggests innocently. “It’s only best scientific practice.” Loki rolls his eyes again but glances around to see if anyone else is in the room before dragging Tony into his bedroom.

When Tony suggests travelling through a swamp to meet up with a voodoo queen, Loki stares him down and very clearly and deliberately mouths _No_. Tony shrugs and goes back to scrolling through the Disney wikipedia page on his tablet. “Just trying to help, Little Merman.” he says. Loki reaches across the couch with a bare foot and kicks him.

At last the Avengers and Thor bid the two good-night with promises in varying degrees of honesty to help Loki find a cure tomorrow. Tony and Loki go up to the roof like always, but it’s upsetting to both of them that they can’t talk like they usually do. Tony fills up the silent darkness with words for the better part of an hour, and Loki lets him. They sit beside each other on their chairs, their hands just barely touching in the space between their bodies.

“Do you want to go watch a movie?” Tony asks, and Loki meets his eyes and nods. Before they get up, Tony reaches over and lightly brushes Loki’s cheekbone with his knuckles. Loki closes his eyes at the touch, and Tony’s heart aches to hear Loki’s voice. He doesn’t care if all Loki ever says to him are insults and sarcastic comments, he just wants Loki to speak again. And it’s only been a few hours of silence; how much longer can this go on? How much longer can either of them stand it? He’s watched Loki struggling all day, unable to say something clever or sarcastic whenever it occurs to him.

Tony wants to say something. _We’ll break this. I’ll find a way to get your voice back. Larynx will pay for this if it goes on much longer. I miss your voice so much._ “This can’t be permanent,” he says instead, hating how unconvincing his voice sounds.

Loki shrugs, then reaches up to take the hand trailing down his face. He stands and helps Tony up. They take the stairs down to Tony’s floor and curl up on the sofa in front of the massive TV screen. Tony decides on _Mulan_ , which Loki hasn’t seen yet. They can watch in silence without the quiet feeling unnatural. Loki sometimes speaks while they watch the movies, but it’s usually to complain that magic doesn’t work the way the movie is implying. There isn’t much magic in _Mulan_ besides the dragon, though, so Loki wouldn’t have had anything to complain about, anyway.

They doze off halfway through rewatching _101 Dalmatians_ , shoulders touching and heads resting against each other and fingers threaded together. When Tony awakens to sunlight streaming through the windows and Loki’s green eyes an inch from his own, he thinks they might have an actual problem with Loki’s voice gone.

Loki seems to sense Tony’s almost immediate _oh shit_ moment, because they cock their head and frown at him.

“You can’t tell people your gender.” Tony whispers, aware of how close their mouths are, too. Loki looks startled at the realization for a moment. Then they kiss Tony hard in what Tony thinks might be a _thank you_ for how Loki’s gender identity has become Tony’s second thought in the morning (the first being Loki in general; he might have fallen in love with the god way too fast).

When Loki pulls away, their eyes have the slightest lost look in them, but Tony has come to learn that if he can gauge an emotion by Loki’s expression (however miniscule), then Loki’s actual feelings inside are overwhelmingly strong. The tight press of Loki’s lips and the small furrow of their brow was the equivalent of a normally expressive person freaking out. Tony drapes an arm around Loki; Loki doesn’t pull away, but frowns to themself, as though thinking hard.

“Loki,” Tony says softly, an idea forming in his head. Loki looks up at him without any more persuading. “I’ll suggest a gender and you nod or shake your head.” Loki’s eyes widen and they smile. They bring up a hand to frame Tony’s face. Loki is looking at him like he is full of wonders. Tony hopes he never runs out of things to say to make Loki give him that expression. Surprising Loki is one of his very favorite things. Loki mouths something short that looks like _You_ , and Tony doesn’t know what that means. But the softness in Loki’s gaze is new, and Tony decides it must be a good thing.

“Does that sound okay?” Tony asks, and Loki nods. “Man?” Tony asks. Loki shakes their head. “Nonbinary?” They shake their head. “Undecided?” Loki shakes their head a third time. “Woman?” Loki smiles again and nods. Tony returns the smile. “Got it.”

Loki ducks her head and mouths something Tony can’t see. Tony places a hand under her chin and guides her face up to look at him. “What was that?” Loki is still for a moment, before dropping her eyes and mouthing again. The word (or words) is longer, and Tony doesn’t catch it. He has to ask her to say it a third time before he deciphers it.

_Thank you._ Loki scowls, like it takes all of her willpower to say it. Tony smiles at her, and she returns the smile with a complex look. He knows she’s dying to add something sarcastic but longer than two words. He finds he’s dying to hear it.

“We have to get this figured out.” He tells her, and she nods.

  
  
  


“Good morning, Loki,” Thor greets her when he comes to Tony’s floor to help research Loki’s curse a couple hours later. “Are you--?” he stops and frowns, seeming to realize what Tony had when he’d woken up. Loki huffs at her brother and looks at Tony, who takes the hint.

“She’s a woman today.” Tony tells the god.

“How do you--?”

“We worked something out.” Tony says, and doesn’t elaborate, turning back to the tablet to flip through it. When he speaks again, he addresses Loki. “Hey, now that Thor’s here we can try out _Frozen--_ ” Loki immediately launches herself across the couch at Tony and claps a hand to his mouth. The glare she sends him tells him she knows exactly which movie he’s referencing. He grins, though his mouth is still covered by her hand.

Thor glances between them, clearly confused but also amused. “Still suggesting movie cures, Stark?” he asks good naturedly.

Tony licks Loki’s hand like a twelve year old, and Loki falls for it like another twelve year old, pulling back with a look of disgust and wiping her hand on her shirt. “It’s worth a shot,” Tony says defensively to Thor, but gives Loki a falsely innocent smile. Loki glares at him and shakes her head.

“Well, I’ve found a better solution,” Thor says, and he instantly has the full attention of both Tony and Loki.

“What are you talking about?”

“I called in a...well, I wouldn’t say he’s a friend, necessarily. But he agreed to come by and see what he can do.” Thor says.

“Thor, sir,” F.R.I.D.A.Y says over the intercom. “You have a guest. Shall I send him up?”

Thor smiles. “That must be him. Yes, let him in.”

Tony turns to Loki to see how she is reacting to this. She meets his eyes, suspicion and caution clear on every inch of her face. _Who?_ She mouths slowly. They don’t have to wonder long.

The door opens, and Stephen Strange enters the room. Tony feels his eyebrows raise involuntarily. Despite living in the same city, he hasn’t seen the sorcerer since Thanos was defeated. He looks much the same as always, eyes suspicious, mouth perpetually frowning.

Tony looks at Loki, who’s staring Strange and her brother down. _No_ , she mouths. _Hell. No._

“You sure you don’t want to keep her like this? It seems an improvement.” Strange says. Tony pushes himself forward and grabs Loki around her waist just in time; she’s summoning her daggers and glaring at Strange, trying to get off the couch to get at him. She turns her glare on Tony when he holds her back.

He knows she could get out of his grasp or stab him if she wanted to, but she merely struggles in his arms and stares at him in fury. She’s so angry she’s trying to speak, her lips moving so rapidly that Tony can’t keep up with what she’s attempting to say. She has one dagger pointed at his throat and another in the direction of Strange as she squirms but lets him keep his grip. He pulls her closer to him, forcing her to move her dagger out of the way or let him slit his throat.

“Listen, I know you don’t like him,” Tony murmurs, holding her gaze. “I know you don’t trust him. But he might be able to help. I know you’re trying to say something really clever and mean to him; don’t you want him to hear it?”

She stares at him angrily, mouth open but not trying to say anything. She listens to him, and when he’s finished, she tries to pull away for a moment more before going still in his arms and sheathing her daggers. He lets her go when the last of her blades disappear. She stands with a huff of breath and smooths her shirt, which got twisted in the scuffle she easily could have won but chose not to. She turns to look haughtily at Strange and her brother, still standing in the hallway.

“Can you help?” Tony asks the sorcerer, still keeping an eye on Loki to be sure she doesn’t try to attack Strange again.

“I don’t know. I’ve seen this type of magic before, but it depends on what the witch actually did.” Strange says.

“What do you mean?” Thor asks.

“I mean, did she actually _steal_ the essence of your sister’s voice, like Larynx would like people to believe? Did she make her voice box or some other body part disappear? Is it an extreme version of a medical condition like laryngitis?” he turns to Loki. “I don’t much like you and I know you don’t like me, Asgardian. But I can’t work out the method behind the curse unless I take a closer look. Do I have your word that you won’t try to kill me?”

Loki watches him in silence. She continues to glare venomously, unmoving. Tony wants to reach out, take her hand, try to convince her to trust Strange. But he knows trying to influence her opinion in this moment will likely backfire. Thor is looking between the sorcerer and his sister in silence, and seems to think the same.

At last, Loki nods her head slowly. Her glower is no less intense, but she nods. She allows him to approach her. He doesn’t look the least unnerved by her. His movements are deliberate, but not fearful. Tony imagines that if Loki chose to growl at him (and was able to), he would either not react at all or laugh.

He casts a swirling, geometric type of magic Tony can’t make sense of, but Loki seems to understand it enough to know Strange isn’t trying to attack her. After a few minutes of tense silence, Strange makes a sound of comprehension. “Ah! This is child’s play.” Loki, whose face had softened in the long moments as Strange ran his magical diagnostics, glares at him again. Strange ignores her. “Just a moment.” He vanishes for a few seconds before reappearing with an old, leather-bound book in his hand. He flips through it a few times before pausing and reading a passage. “That’s what I thought,” he says, seemingly to himself. He closes the book and tucks it under his arm, turning back to the others in the room.

He addresses Loki specifically this time. “If you threaten to kill me or say anything else that’s rude, I will take your voice right back again,” he says. Loki glares. “Do I have your word?” Strange prompts, unfazed. Loki stares at him in silent outrage for a few moments more before nodding. “Excellent,” he says, handing the book to Thor and raising his hands again. The golden concentric circles appear in the air again and he manipulates a few of them. A shower of gold sparks fall over Loki as he expels the magic.

For a moment, the room is silent as the dead, everyone except Strange seeming to hold their breath. Strange’s expression never changes. And then Loki opens her mouth. “Thank you for your help,” she says, her voice flooded with sarcasm. Tony exhales; leave it to Loki to find a loophole in Strange’s conditions. He frowns, but doesn’t take her voice back. She said nothing rude in terms of words, and did not threaten to kill him. His threat did not include the use of sarcasm. He takes his book back from Thor and walks out of the room without another word. Thor does not watch him go; he’s beaming at his sister with all the joy of a hyperactive golden retriever.

Loki rolls her eyes at him and turns away before he can speak. She looks at Tony, and he can’t help it. He speaks the cliched words he suspects Thor was going to say to her. “It’s good to hear your voice again.”

Loki sighs. “You boys are so predictable.” But she looks into Tony’s eyes and gives him a tiny smile that Thor can’t see.

  
  


That night on the roof, Tony tries to think how to say what he’s been thinking all day. Every way he words it, it sounds lame and so heartfelt he doubts Loki will humor him. He’s thinking about today, but he’s thinking about the night he first kissed Loki, too. He knows how important it is to Loki that people get her pronouns right, and it is important to him, too. So the idea stays lodged in his brain throughout the otherwise uneventful day, and he can’t figure out how to coherently bring it up with Loki, but he refuses to let it go unspoken anyway. He can’t give Loki her voice back if it’s taken from her, but he can give her this, however he thinks to say it.

He’s able to work out what he’s going to say in peace, because Loki is more talkative than usual, a side effect of being struck mute for twenty-four hours. When there is a lull in the near-ceaseless babble at last, Tony seizes his opportunity. The words are only half-rehearsed and he knows how stupid they sound, but he doesn’t think they’re going to get any better.

“Loki?”

“Odin’s blood, Tony, are you finally going to say what’s been going on in that head of yours all damn day?” Loki says. Tony looks over at her, startled. He shouldn’t really be surprised she picked up on it; Loki is very perceptive.

“I don’t…” Tony closes his eyes tightly and shakes his head. _God, you’re so lame_.

“Tony. _Talk_ .” Loki says, and her impatience is clear in her voice and holy _shit_ , Tony’s missed her beautiful voice so much. He opens his eyes to see her watching him, as intently as she always does.

Tony tries again. “It sounds stupid in my head,” he admits.

“Then it probably is,” she interrupts. “But tell me anyway.”

“I’m trying to, you impatient shit. I’m just thinking that there could be a time like today, when you can’t communicate openly with me. I don’t want that to get in the way of respecting your gender.” he says. _Why are you such a sap?_ He thinks. He closes his eyes again, embarrassed.

There is silence for a moment, and then Tony hears Loki let out a frustrated groan. “Why the fuck are you like this, Tony Stark?” Tony opens his eyes to see Loki covering her face with her hands. She’s not doing a very good job though, because Tony can see she’s blushing. It’s so unexpected and charming and _human-like_ that Tony can’t help smiling fondly at her.

“Wow, you’re cute,” he mutters, only mostly to himself.

“Stop that,” Loki admonishes. She removes her hands and looks at him. “Are you suggesting we make up a code or something?”

“Something like that.” Tony says.

“You are way too thoughtful about this for your own good, Stark.”

It’s not explicitly agreement, but Tony takes it anyway.

  
* * * * * * * * * *

 

The first time they use the code, there is no villain. At least, there isn’t a physical bad guy. Tony is startled awake by Loki sitting up suddenly with a gasp.

“Loki?” he asks sleepily, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the outline beside him in the darkness. He reaches over to turn on the bedside lamp and looks over at Loki. The god is breathing rapidly and clutching at their knees, their fingers catching clumsily on loose pajama pants that belong to Tony. The look on the god’s face is one of pure terror, and Tony’s seen them wear it before.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Tony asks softly, sitting up beside them. Loki nods shakily, nails digging into their calves. When the nails can’t reach the skin, Loki presses them tight into their palms. Tony crawls on the mattress until he can see Loki’s face.Tony reaches out, unthinking, and pauses mid-reach. “Can I touch you?” he asks carefully. Loki doesn’t look at him, their forehead pressed to their knees, but their entire body rocks slightly as they nod again.  He places his hands on Loki’s.

Loki lifts their gaze to him and blinks twice, slowly and deliberately. Tony gives them a small smile; he knows what Loki’s trying to tell him.

“ _They can’t be too similar. I might confuse which eye you’re winking, or which side you’re turning your head.” Tony says._

_Loki rolls her eyes. “So precise. Fine, if I blink twice I’m nonbinary, all right?”_

 

“I’ve got you, Loki. It’s going to be okay. Should we do the breathing exercise?” Tony asks calmly. Loki nods, their breaths still coming short and quick. After a moment, Loki lets go of their knees with one hand and reaches out to Tony. Tony takes it and presses a kiss to Loki’s palm. Loki gives him a strained smile, and begins to inhale while Tony counts.

Inhale. Count to seven.

Hold. Count to five.

Exhale. Count to seven.

Inhale. Seven.

Hold. Five.

Exhale. Seven.

Tony takes it slow, helps Loki focus on their breathing. He guides the god through each breath, massaging the back of Loki’s hand with the pad of his thumb. They’ve done this so often, helping each other ride out panic attacks, that it’s become as natural to them as nights on the roof. Tony stays by Loki’s side and helps them breathe when Loki has an attack, and Loki does the same when it’s Tony. Loki never speaks until they have their breathing under control, but they watch Tony so hungrily Tony feels like he can taste the words Loki never says, even after they have calmed down. Tony doesn’t say it, either, though on nights like this when one of them is spiralling into a panic attack, he thinks he’ll let them slip before Loki’s ready to hear him say it.

_He loves them, he loves them, good God, he loves them._

At last, Loki can breathe again. They unroll from the tight ball they held their body in, keeping their gaze on Tony. They watch him for a moment, before they seem to make a decision, and begin to crawl the short distance down the mattress to Tony. Tony watches them as they climb onto his lap, refusing to look at him. Loki curls against him, head resting on his chest and arms tight around his middle. They’re still shaking with the aftershocks of the panic attack.

Tony inhales to say something, he’s not sure what, when Loki’s hand moves around from his back again and covers his mouth. “Don’t say a word,” they say. “And if you so much as _look_ like you’re going to mention this happened in the light of day, I will slit your throat.” Their tone is menacing, but Tony is not intimidated. He smiles, though, and promises not to breathe a word about it. Satisfied, Loki removes their hand from his mouth and snakes it around Tony’s abdomen again.

They say nothing, but when they press ever closer after a moment, Tony knows. _I love you, too, you prickly bastard._

Tony holds them close and shuts his eyes. He feels himself drifting off to sleep like that, and thinks he could die now and be entirely content with his life. Loki must be falling asleep, too, because when they speak, their voice is sleepy and muffled against Tony’s chest, and Tony thinks they say it only half-consciously.

“I love you.”

Tony’s lips form a tired smile, and he leans slowly down to press a kiss to Loki’s head. Loki must have realized what they said, though, because they rouse just enough to add softly, “Don’t you dare tell anyone I said that.”

Tony snorts against Loki’s silky hair, not opening his eyes. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.” he says. “I’ve got you.”

  
* * * * * * * * * *

 

Tony’s phone rings in the middle of “Avengers Family Dinner,” as they’ve come to call it, two weeks later.

“Is that your significant other?” Natasha asks. “They better have a good reason for being late.”

“Hasn’t Loki been out of the tower for a couple days? Where have they gone?” Vision asks.

Tony leaves the table and answers the phone. “Stark speaking.” he says. He listens for a few minutes to the person on the other line; the others watch him curiously.

“Doesn’t seem to be Loki,” Wanda says. “Loki doesn’t usually call, but if they text him, he usually gets all doe-eyed and blush-y.”

Tony scowls and flips her off, but still doesn’t speak into the phone. He’s trying to keep a straight face as the caller continues to talk. Eventually he has to put a hand over the receiver and double over with laughter.

“Who is it?” Bruce asks.

“No clue,” Tony says. “Calls himself ‘The Obliterator’ or some melodramatic shit.”

“What does this man want?” Thor asks.

Tony starts to laugh again. “Loki got themself kidnapped.”

“What?” Thor says, standing immediately.

“How?” Steve asks. “This man sounds like an idiot, and he kidnapped a _god_?”

The man on the phone seems to be speaking again, because Tony removes his hand from the receiver and says with as much steadiness as he can muster, “Yes, I’m still here. …. Of course, I’ll be right there. …. Absolutely, I will, yes. Bye.” Tony hangs up, laughing hysterically. “What a dumbass.”

“Do we have to go rescue your idiot partner?” Natasha asks.

Tony shakes his head. “The guy insisted that I go alone,” Tony says. “Seems to think he can blackmail me into giving into his demands by threatening to kill Loki.”

“Are you going to go?” Steve asks.

“Yeah. Best case scenario I find out why Loki decided to pretend the guy is smarter than them. Worst case scenario I get a good look at the person somehow clever enough to _actually_ kidnap a god. Right before I blast them into next week, either way.” Tony says, calling his suit as he does so. When he’s fully suited up, he glides to the roof and takes off, following the coordinates the Obliterator gave him over the phone. He takes his time, knowing Loki is just fine. He hassles a few petty criminals he comes across on the way before reaching his destination.

“All right,” he says to himself (and F.R.I.D.A.Y). “Let’s give the Obliterator a little taste of what he’s gotten himself into.” He checks the heat signatures on the other side of the wall to make sure he doesn’t kill the guy who thinks he’s some grand villain while giving him the fright of his life. There’s a person standing off to the side, and another looks to be kneeling in the opposite corner. Tony assumes the second is Loki. When he ensures that the area of destruction is clear, he raises his arms and blasts a massive hole in the wall.

Dust and rubble rain down. The man on the right jumps back in terror, giving a frightened yell. “What in the---?” The man cries, and Tony recognizes his voice as the one on the phone. Tony smirks from inside the suit. The other person in the room doesn’t flinch, and Tony sees that it _is_ Loki. They look up at him calmly, and raise their eyebrows. There’s a gag in their mouth, but the look on their face clearly expresses their thoughts. _Really, Tony?_ Tony knows Loki would have created a more dignified dramatic entrance, but in his defense, he didn’t have much time to consider the possibilities. He has already managed to be half an hour late to the rendezvous.

In addition to the gag, Loki’s wrists are also held behind their back, restrained with zip ties. A device wrapped around their body appears to be a bomb of some kind. This idiot of a villain clearly has no idea what Loki is capable of.

The Obliterator recovers fairly quickly, and approaches Tony. “You are late, Iron Man,” he says. Tony turns to him.

“I am? Oh, you said six- _thirty_ . I thought you said six- _fifty_. My bad. The Obliterator, was it? Have you been having fun getting to know Loki? I’m sorry, I’m going to have to take my coworker back home now. We’re very late for dinner, you know.” he says lightly, watching the man get progressively angrier.

“You cannot leave without agreeing to my demands. That bomb on your lover’s chest will go off the moment you try to take him away from this building. It will only defuse by my own reprogramming,” the man says.

“Really? That’s smart of you,” Tony says conversationally. “Unfortunately, we won’t be around to watch your genius at work. I’m sure your demands are very well thought out, but the answer’s gonna be no.”

“I have kidnapped your boyfriend, Mr. Stark. I shall blow him up if you do not comply. You are not in a position to turn down my demands.”

Tony glances at Loki, gagged and zip tied on the floor. The deity rolls their eyes and then cocks her head deliberately to the right. Tony smiles.

 

_“Okay, how about if you’re a woman?” Tony asks._

_Loki rolls her eyes. “Take a guess. I do this if I’m a man.” She tilts her head toward her left shoulder. “If I’m a woman I’ll just do it the opposite way.”_ _She tilts her head to the right to demonstrate._

 

Tony turns back to the villain.

“Actually, you’ve kidnapped my _girlfriend_ , but I’m going to teach you a thing or two about Loki.” He slowly lowers himself to the ground. He keeps the face mask on as he alights on the rubble-strewn floor in front of the man. “She’s only here because she wants to be.”

The man laughs. “The god is tied to a bomb on my floor. I think this wannabe hero is here because of _my_ actions. I’m just the more clever of us, I suppose.”

Now it’s Tony’s turn to laugh. Someone, especially a mere human, more clever than Loki. The idea is ridiculous. “No, no, no. She’s tied up because she _let_ you tie her up. She’s still tied up because she’s letting you keep her here. She’s exactly where she wants to be, and completely in control of this situation.” Tony can’t help but cast an admiring look in Loki’s direction. Loki rolls her eyes and allows herself to look very restrained.

“And why would she want to be tied up?” The man asks derisively. He seems to have picked up on Loki’s pronouns involuntarily.

Tony lifts one armored shoulder in response. He glances back at Loki. “I have no idea, but I’m about to find out.” Without looking at the villain, he lifts a hand almost carelessly and blasts him across the room. Then he walks over to Loki and takes the gag off.

She shakes out her dark hair and looks at him. “I had it covered, Tony,” she says.

“I’m sure you did. So do I. How do I defuse this bomb?”

Loki rolls her eyes. “It’s been harmless since about ten seconds after that moron put it on me.”

Tony laughs and unstraps the bomb from Loki’s body; he’d assumed as much. “I see. And you let yourself get captured for a day and a half until I could get my shit together, or this idiot gave in and contacted me, because?”

Loki snaps the zip ties around her wrists with magic and takes Tony’s proffered hand. She stands and runs a flat hand over her body. Her clothes become a skirt and blouse, and her chest and hips fill out. “In my defense, I thought you were smart enough to figure it out sooner.” she says.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Maybe I just wanted to watch you save me.” Loki says.

“Mhmm, right. That must be it,” Tony replies sarcastically. On the other side of the room, the man starts to sit up with a groan. Loki doesn’t look away from Tony as she reaches out and casts a spell that seems to knock the hapless villain unconscious again. They both turn and walk towards the blasted-apart wall. “You’re never going to tell me the real answer, are you?”

Loki gives him a winning smile and drapes a graceful arm around his shoulders. “Nope. I find it much more fun to watch you try to work it out yourself.” Tony rolls his eyes from behind the mask and takes off, carrying Loki with him.

“What’s for dinner?” Loki asks as they fly.

“It was Thor’s turn.”

“Yuck.”

“Pizza, then.”

“You sure know how to spoil a girl, Tony Stark,” Loki says.

 


End file.
